Garment finisher with attached assembly of fluid spraying guns

ABSTRACT

A garment finisher having steam supply and steam return conduits serving the same includes an assembly of fluid spraying guns communicating with the steam conduits. An improved steam gun fed by a circulating dry steam source is disclosed.

United States Patent Richterkessing [4 1 Apr. 10, 1973 1541GARMENTFINISHER WITH ATTACHED ASSEMBLY or FLUID SPRAYING GUNS [75]Inventor: Frank H. Richterkessing, Louisville,

[73] Assignee: The W. M. Cissell Manufacturing Company, Louisville, Ky.

[22] Filed: Sept. 9, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 179,025 I I Related US.Application Data Division Of S61. N0. 13,4:55, Feb. 24', 1970, Pat. N0.

52 u.s.-c1.. .L .223/70 51], Int.Cl.. ..A41h5/00 5s] FieldofSearch..239/124;223/51,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,735,595 2/1956 Glover223/7o 2,140,961 12/1938 Lendle .223/70 2,273,119 2/1942 Lichterman.....223/70 3,333,747 8/1967 Glover 223/70 Primary Examiner-G. V. LarkinAtt0rney- -Wi1liam E. Sherwood 57 ABSTR CT A garment finisher havingsteam supply "and steam return conduits serving the same includesanassembly of fluid spraying guns communicating with the steam conduits.An improved steam gun fed by a circulating dry steam source isdisclosed.

2 Claims, 8v Drawing Figures PATENTED 3.726.450

sum 1 0F 2 mvmoa. FRANK H. RICHTERKESSING PAIENTEUAPR 1 0 I975 sum 2 [1F2 INVENTOR. FRANK H. RICHTERKESSING 702'. Sam;

GARMENT FINISIIER WITH ATTACHED ASSEMBLY OF FLUID SPRAYING GUNS This isa division of application Ser. No. 13,455 filed Feb. 24,1970, now US.Pat. No. 3,655,131.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Various types of apparatus for finishinggarments and for removing wrinkles from the garment are available, andin some forms of such apparatus a highly skilled operator is required inorder to obtain optimum results from the operation of the apparatus. Inthe finishing of garments such as coats, dresses, blouses, skirts,jackets and the like having areas of two or more thicknesses of fabric,or badly wrinkled areas such as seat portions, the general steaming anddrying of the garment by the automatic operation of the apparatus oftenis insufficient, and additional treatment in the form of touch-up afterthe garment is removed from the apparatus, is needed.

This touch-up treatment maybe reduced, if not entirely eliminated, byapplication of dry steam or water vapor, or both, to selected portionsof the garment while still in position on the apparatus and, beforebeing dried by that apparatus, provided a'suitable means for sprayingfluid on the garment is available to the operator. Various forms of suchspraying means, commonly called spray guns, have been proposed but whena steam gun, in which condensate may collect, is used, unsatisfactoryresults often occur. Purging of such a gun requires disposition of thecondensate before dry steam can be applied to the garment, and thisinvolves a loss of time on the part of the operator and often entailsspillage of liquid on the floor.

Moreover, the application of the dry steam or water vapor, or both, fromthe guns usually occurs while the apparatus is undergoing its steamingcycle and'must not interfere with the steaming treatment being appliedto the interior of the garment. It is problems of the above indicatedtype which it is the purpose of the present in vention to solve.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention is embodied in a steam gun andliquid vapor gun assembly which can be handled with one hand and adaptedto spray dry steam, or liquid vapor, or both, by the selectivedepressing of thumb operated valves in the respective guns. The steamgun body has a tubular connection extending therefrom upstream of thevalve therein and a pair of branch conduits which communicate withthisconnection and with each other have flexible hoses extendingrespectively to a dry steam supply conduit and to a wet steam andcondensate return conduit, the supply and return conduits simultaneouslyserving a garment finishing apparatus. The liquid vapor gun employs asingle flexible hose connected thereto upstream of the valve therein andleading to a reservoir of condensate derived from a heater inthe'finishing apparatus and supplied to the liquid vapor gun under thepressureexisting in the return conduit from that apparatus.

Among the objectives of the invention is the provision of an improvedcombination of apparatus including a garment finisher and an attachedassembly of fluid spraying guns; the provision of a compact spray gunassembly which has a bundle of flexible hoses leading thereto and inwhich the steam and liquid vaporizing guns thereof may be readilyactuated by the thumb of the user in order to spray dry steam orvaporized liquid simultaneously or in sequence upon a garment and whileholding the assembly handle with one hand, and the provision of animproved steam gun having a constantly available source of circulatingdry steam and provided with a means for preventing the ejection of wetsteam or condensate from the gun.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become moreapparent as the description proceeds and when considered in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a rear perspective view of the garment finisher showing theattachment of the fluid spraying apparatus to the fluid conduits whichjointly serve the finisher and the spraying apparatus, and indicatingthe location of valves.

FIG. 2 is 'a side elevation view, partly in section and with portionsomitted, of the garment finisher, and further indicating the location ofcertain connections to the fluid conduits.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the fluid spraying apparatus shown to alarger scale.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the steam gun taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the liquid vaporizing gun taken on line5-5 of FIG. 6.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the discharging end of the manipulatable fluidspraying apparatus of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of the control valve in thesteam supply conduit for the spraying apparatus, and

FIG. 8 is a longitudinal sectional view of the combined control andcheck valve for connection jointly to the spraying apparatus and to thereturn conduit from the garment finisher.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the garment finisher structure comprisesessentially a housing generally indicated at 10, a steam radiator 11located within 'the housing and receiving dry steam from a supplyconduit 12, a hollowupwardly projecting steam chest 13 communicating at14 with the lower end of the radiator, and a wet steam and condensatereturn conduit 15 communicating with the lower end of the steam chestand extending from the apparatus in a direction generally parallel tothe supply conduit.

A condensate reservoir 16 is suitably mounted in the enlarged rearwardand elevated portion 17 of the housing and includes an inlet conduit 18attached as at 19 to the return conduit 15 and feeding into the upperportion of the reservoir. An outlet conduit 20 extends from the lowerportion of the reservoir and connects with a third hose 21 leading tothe improved spraying apparatus later to be described. A conventionalmanually adjustable valve 22 accessible on the outside of the housingserves to regulate the flow of liquid into hose 21. Contained within thehousing portion 17 is a blower 23 suitably driven and controlled bymeans forming no part of the present invention. This blower draws airthrough a filter 24 extending across the intake at the rear face of thehousing portion 17 and across the reservoir 16, and then directs the airpast a suitable damper 25 into the duct 26 and into contact with theradiator 11.

Rotatably mounted on steam chest 13 is a conventional'garment finisherform having a bag 30 with an open lower end supported thereon andadapted to receive the air heated by the radiator and rising through theopening 31 in the housing around the steam chest. Preferably this bagcomprises a fluid pervious cloth material in substantially flaccid shapeand with a size and shape, when fully distended, corresponding to arelatively small size of garment. The vertical length of the bag,however, is such as to accom 'modate relatively long garments and bymeans of a conventional adjustable neck and shoulder element adapted toextend through openings at theupper sides of the bag, and of the typemore fully disclosed in Richterkessing U.S. Pat. No. 3,033,429, andwhich is mounted upon the inner form and operable by turning of the knob32, the shoulders of larger garments may be suitably supported while thegarment is undergoing treatment. Conventional front and rear clampingplates 33,34, respectively, also are mounted on the inner formsupporting the bag and serve to press the garment against the distendedflaccid bag 30 during the finishing operation. These plates also areequipped with conventional latching means not described.

Adjacent the upper end of the steam chest 13 a normally closed valve 37adapted to be opened by the depressing of lever 38 and rod 39, isprovided. The rod is movedby a suitable electromagnetic solenoid, notshown, when the circuit thereto is closed as by means of a foot switch40. Upon opening of valve 37 steam, of course, is sprayed into theinterior of bag 30.

As will now be apparent, and in contrast to garment finishers in whichthe bag size corresponds to the maximum size of garment to be treatedand the operator is required to exercise skill in reducing the size ofthe distended bag to the size of the garment under treatment bymanipulating a means for adjusting the diametrical size and shape of thebag, the present invention contemplates the application of steam orliquid vapor, or both, to the outer surface of the garment to assist inremoving wrinkles in the garment even while that garment is receivingsteam or heated air, or both, passing through bag 30 to the innersurface of the garment.

Accordingly, an improved fluid spraying apparatus, now to be described,is provided for the operator and with the operation of the samesuitably' coordinated with the operation of the described garmentfinisher so that both operations may occur simultaneously and withoutdetriment to either. Passing now to FIG. 3, a heat insulated handle 45comprises a main body having a bracket 46 attached to one end and with asteam gun 47 and a companion liquid vaporizing gun 48 demountablycradled on the bracket and held in place by a plate 49 secured by a nut50. A hook 51 secured to the bracket provides a ready means for stowingthe apparatus on a framework 52 (FIG. 1) upstanding from the housingportion 17, when the spraying apparatus is idle. The steam gun isconstructed soas to spray only dry steam with heavy impact against thegarment and to avoid the spraying of liquid globules or to requirepurging before beginning its spray of steam. The gun 47, therefore,includes a cylindrical body 53 having a discharge nozzle 54 threadedinto the bore 55 at one end of the body and sealed with a gasket 56. Areciprocable plunger 57 mounted in the bore has its upper end projectingoutwardly from the body and includes a piston 58 with a portion servingas a valve and acting under the bias of a compression spring 59 andsealed with an O-ring 60. A crown nut 61 is threaded on the outer end ofthe plunger and engages a lever 62 pivotally mounted on the outer end ofbody 53 and having a button 63 at its distal end. The nozzle has adischarge orifice 64 with an inner seat for the valve and comprising anO-ring 65 against which the conical valve end of the plunger normally isseated. Between this seat and the piston a tubular connection 66communicates with the bore 55 and includes tubular branch portions 67,68in communication with each other and with that bore. Significantly, thisconstruction permits a steam circulation, with the steam conduitsserving the garment finisher apparatus even when the steam gun is not inuse. For this purpose an elongated thin wall, small diameter second hose70 which conveniently may be made of teflon is attached at itsrespective ends to the branch portion 68 (FIG. 3) and to a branch bore71 of a combined control and check valve 72 (1 16.8). In addition, asimilar first hose 73 is attached at its respective ends to the branchportion 67 of the steam gun and to a branch bore 74 of a control valve75 (FIG. 7).

The valve 75 comprises a body portion with an inlet bore 76communicating with the dry steam supply conduit 12 (FIG. 2) upstreamfrom the radiator and with an interior seat 77 between the inlet bore 76and the branch bore 74. A valve stem 78 having a rounded end 79 adaptedto engage the seat and to cut off steam flow is adjustable by means ofknob 80, and the threaded engagement of the stem with the interior ofthe valve body permits various degrees of opening of the valve andvarious flow rates of dry steam into the hose 70 leading to the steamgun.

The valve 72, moreover, affords protection against the reverse flow ofwet steam or condensate into the steam gun and comprises a body portionwith an outlet bore 82 communicating with the steam and condensatereturn conduit 15 downstream from the reservoir connection 19. A valvestem 83 threaded for rotation in the valve body'upon turning of knob84has a rounded end 85 adapted to engage a seat 86 intermediate theoutlet bore 82 and the inlet bore 71 when communication with the steamgun is to be inter'ruptedThe lower end of outlet bore 82 below seat 86is enlarged and contains a lightweight ball 87, preferably made ofteflon and of less diameter than the diameter of bore 82. A pin 88extending across bore 82 serves to retain the ball in that bore and aseat 89 in the valve body above bore 82 permits the ball to closecommunication between the bores 82 and 71 when the ball-is lifted by thepressure existing in return conduit 15.

As will now be apparent when the button 63 of the steam gun is pressedby the operators thumb dry steam flows into and is discharged from thegun under pressure existing in the conduit 12 and the parallelconnection from the return conduit'l5 is interrupted by the forcing ofthe ball valve, 87 against seat 89. Thus, no wet steam or condensatereaches the steam gun. As soon as the steam gun is closed by releasingbutton 63 the normal circulation of dry steam from the higher pressuresupply conduit 12 through valve 75, conduit 70, steam gun 47, conduit73, valve 72, and to lower pressure return conduit is restored as theball valve 87 drops back upon pin 88.

The liquid vaporizing gun 48 includes a cylindrical body portion 90having a discharge nozzle 91 threaded into the bore 92 at one end of thebody and sealed with a gasket 93. A reciprocable plunger 94 mounted inthe bore has its upper end projecting outwardly from the body andincludes a piston 95 with a portion serving as a valve and acting underthe bias of a compression spring 96 and sealed with an O-ring 97. Acrown nut 98 is threaded on the outer end of the plunger and engages alever 99 pivotally mounted on the outer end of body 90 and having abutton 100 at its distal end. As best seen in FIG. 6, this lever liesside by side with lever 62 and the respective buttons 63, 100, for thetwo guns are so located that the user while holding the handle 45 in onehand, can place his thumb upon either or both of the buttons.

The nozzle 91 has an end wall reduced in thickness 101 and with a smallcentral orifice suitable for effecting the vaporization of thecondensate liquid into a fine mist. Preferably the lower end 102 ofpiston 95 reciprocates in the bore with a close fit and diagonal groovessuch as 103 are formed in the sides of the lower end 102. A lateraltubular connection 104 communicating with the bore 92 upstream from thevalve seat 105 is adapted to connect with the upper end of the thirdhose 21 leading from the conduit under control of valve 22. As best seenin FIG. 3, each of the elongated flexible hoses 21, 70 and 73 areencased in a flexible tubular jacket 106 throughout a substantialportion of their length and form a bundle-which avoids entanglement ofthe same and contributes to easy manipulation of the spray gun assembly.

With the foregoing description in mind, it will be apparent that afterthe finisher apparatus becomes heated a supply of condensate inreservoir 16 is constantly available to supply the gun 48 and aconstantly circulating source of dry steam is available for gun 47. Nopurging of the steam gun is required and at any time during thefinishing of the garment the user may apply dry steam, water mist, orboth, to portions of the garment without interruption of the finishingbeing effected by the remainder of the apparatus.

Having thus described a preferred form of coordinated apparatus, it willbe understood the the invention may also be embodied in forms other thanthat exemplified as the preferred form.

What is claimed is:

l. A garment finisher and fluid spraying apparatus comprising, incombination, a housing, a steam chest projecting upwardly from saidhousing, a steam radiator in said housing and in communication with saidsteam chest, and with a steam and condensate return conduit, meanssupported on said steam chest and mounting a fluid-pervious, flaccid bagadapted to be enveloped by a garment,means for moving air into said bagfollowing passage thereof over said radiator, means for releasing steamfrom said steam chest into said bag, a steam supply conduit connected tosaid radiator; a manipulatable steam gun having a normally closed valvetherein, a valve opening means, and a tubular connection extending fromthe gun upstream of the valve therein, a pair of branch conduitscommunicating with said connection and with each other, a first flexiblehose attached to one of said branch conduits and to said steam supplyconduit, a second flexible hose attached to the other of said branchconduits and to said return conduit, and a check valve in the flow lineof said second hose for preventing flow of wet steam from said returnconduit to said gun while the valve of ,said gun is open.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 including a condensate reservoir insaid housing in communication with said return conduit, a manipulatableliquid vaporizing gun having a normally closed valve therein and a valveopening means, a tubular connection extending from said vaporizing gunupstream of the valve therein, and a third flexible hose extending fromthe connection of said vaporizing gun to said reservoir.

1. A garment finisher and fluid spraying apparatus comprising, incombination, a housing, a steam chest projecting upwardly from saidhousing, a steam radiator in said housing and in communication with saidsteam chest, and with a steam and condensate return conduit, meanssupported on said steam chest and mounting a fluid-pervious, flaccid bagadapted to be enveloped by a garment,means for moving air into said bagfollowing passage thereof over said radiator, means for releasing steamfrom said steam chest into said bag, a steam supply conduit connected tosaid radiator; a manipulatable steam gun having a normally closed valvetherein, a valve opening means, and a tubular connection extending fromthe gun upstream of the valve therein, a pair of branch conduitscommunicating with said connection and with each other, a first flexiblehose attached to one of said branch conduits and to said steam supplyconduit, a second flexible hose attached to the other of said branchconduits and to said return conduit, and a check valve in the flow lineof said second hose for preventing flow of wet steam from said returnconduit to said gun while the valve of said gun is open.
 2. Apparatus asdefined in claim 1 including a condensate reservoir in said housing incommunication with said return conduit, a manipulatable liquidvaporizing gun having a normally closed valve therein and a valveopening means, a tubular connection extending from said vaporizing gunupstream of the valve therein, and a third flexible hose extending fromthe connection of said vaporizing gun to said reservoir.